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Flyer/Sales Letter To Schools

by TheRealDMH
11 replies
Hi All,

I definitely believe in "the wisdom of the crowd", which Wikipedia describes as:
"the process of taking into account the collective opinion of a group of individuals rather than a single expert to answer a question.

A large group's aggregated answers to questions involving quantity estimation, general world knowledge, and spatial reasoning has generally been found to be as good as, and often better than, the answer given by any of the individuals within the group."
Which is just one of the reasons forums like this are excellent! I love reading and hearing a wide range of ideas and thoughts on marketing and different approaches from fellow warriors, veterans and the lovable enthusiasm of newbies!

And so Warrior Crowd, I would love some of your wisdom (assistance please ), And pick your brains a little!

The Background:
I am working on a sales letter for a client that is going out to schools, it will most likely be in the form of a flyer. The targeted action is a phone call to make an enquiry or booking for my client who conducts workshops at schools.

So it needs to evoke a strong reaction and bring about an office admin/principal/school secretary reading this and getting on the phone.

What Are Your Thoughts?
At this stage I feel that to appeal to schools it can't be too much of a typical "sales" letter and that it should focus on my client's credibility (he has excellent testimonials and social proof) and the real benefits of 'life-changing' experiences for the kids (NB: I really do believe in his work)

So I don't want to get into too much detail about the workshops, or get bogged down in detail.

More along the lines of:

Headline
Testimonials
Social Proof
Quick About
Limited Places
Book Now

What do you guys think? Should I have more detail, will I need more information to evoke a reaction to call through?

Or is it enough to rely on heavy social proof and other school's testimonials to get them excited and take action?

What do you think would motivate someone at a school to immediately call through and make an enquiry or booking?

I am working through this, brain-storming, creating avatars and so forth - so I'm not slacking and asking you guys to "do" this for me, I just think I would be foolish not to tap into the wisdom of the Warrior Forum.

So any ideas, thoughts, inputs would be great! I also hope it will help other people as well.

Thanks all and take Care.
D
#crowd #flyer or sales #letter #schools #wisdom
  • Profile picture of the author KingOfContentMarketing
    Telephone follow up to the letter is important. Try to approach a school district and get bookings at several schools at once. Or, once you get a school, ask for a testimonial to the district officials.

    If the booking is out of town, create your own tour around that date so you can leverage your travel time/investment with additional bookings.
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    Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
    - Jack Trout
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRealDMH
      Thanks Joe.

      You are dead-right about the telephone follow-up, I had been so focused on the actual letter... I forgot about the follow-through.

      Thanks - also good advice on maximising time and testimonials.

      Cheers,
      D
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    • Profile picture of the author rdavisconsulting
      Yeah, I agree. I always follow up over phone.

      Originally Posted by Joe Ditzel View Post

      Telephone follow up to the letter is important. Try to approach a school district and get bookings at several schools at once. Or, once you get a school, ask for a testimonial to the district officials.

      If the booking is out of town, create your own tour around that date so you can leverage your travel time/investment with additional bookings.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve The Copywriter
    Hi D,

    I'm a Flyer fanatic because they work so well and produce stunning results and revenues.

    But you have to know they are going (or have a very high chance) of going directly into the hands of the decision maker. This is less likely to happen in a large organisation.

    So, in your case I wouldn't do a Flyer - it's likely to get "lost" in the tons of paperwork schools receive. And may well get "binned" before it reaches the decision maker.

    Instead I would write a sales letter to the principal of the school.

    Personalized with their name on the envelope and on the letter.

    Use the proven copywriting techniques, and yes as you mentioned include all the social proof you can. With lots of testimonials

    A "lumpy" package with a grabber is always good.

    If you want to be 100% sure it will be opened - send it by FedEx.


    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Before following Steve's excellent advice, make a sale in person first.

      This way he will understand all the objections and hot points which come about.

      Those then can be used to sell to many people via the letter.

      Best,
      Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve The Copywriter
    ...a few thoughts on the telephone follow up.

    The key problems are -

    Getting through to the decision maker - best times are usually early in the morning.

    Having a extraordinary good sales pitch - you should write this for the client.

    The best way is for the prospects to phone - if the sales letter is outstandingly good a higher % will.

    You can of course include a reply form - if possible personalise with the prospects name, make it on good quality paper, preferably card with a reply paid envelope and always ask -

    "When is the best time to call you - day and time?" - now you'll know.

    "Please include your direct phone number and cellphone number" - saving time with the gatekeepers.

    "What is your email address?" - makes it easier to contact them directly.

    Always promise to keep these details private and confidential - they're more likely to give them.

    And restate any "scarcity" element on the card - this makes them send it quicker.

    Hope this helps,


    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRealDMH
      Steve and Ewen - a big thank you!

      And Steve, excellent advice. I have really only dealt with mass digital mail-outs and so I was forgetting about the practicality of a flyer.

      ... Let's face it, they are expensive and most days we all dump a pile in the trash. And as mentioned, large organisations get approached regularly with all sorts of stuff, some good, a lot of it junk.

      I had been considering the FEDEX option, but your extra insight and experience is very beneficial.

      So wherever you are, feel good mate - I really appreciate the time you took to assist. Thank you

      And Ewen, also great advice, I am contacting some friends in school administration to get the inside on how they make these decisions. Much appreciated thanks for your thoughts and time!

      Perhaps I could utilise...

      A personalised letter to the decision-maker, with a flyer included (I think my client's heart is set on one) and maybe a DVD - he has great videos. This would be pricey, so could limit this (VIP style package) to the best prospects and private schools (they are the rich ones here).

      Thanks gents, giving me a lot to go off and work with!
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve The Copywriter
    So good to hear that your client is a Flyer Fanatic.

    Yes, bung one (sorry I mean place on very carefully) in the envelope with the personalised letter.

    Now, don't do what everybody else does and make it look like an Ad.

    Make it look like an "invitation" - ideally on a good quality card - because nobody ignores an invitation.

    If the budget will stretch put gold borders around it.


    Steve


    P.S. Remember a Flyer can be any size and you can print on both sides.

    Don't cram in the copy - just use a a larger piece of card.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRealDMH
    Thanks Steve - yes, such an excellent idea.

    I think my main issue will be convincing my client. I may have to recommend a split-test to him because like you said, such a personal touch would get through to anyone but I think people in business sometimes feel that, "well everyone else does it that way" (ie. glossy flyer that looks like a big fat ad for something you may/may not want) and they don't like to buck the trend...

    But naturally, bucking the trend is often where the best results are, standing out from the crowd.

    I have never written an "invitation-style" personalised letter - as mentioned I have 99.99% of my experience online. Do you know any where I could check out an example, perhaps I should go back to Halbert and rummage around?

    Getting started has me tongue-tied, I mean, just how much to personalise it. I am mashing it up a little and ending up somewhere in the middle of an "AD" delivered in a letter format... not as a personalised letter with an invitation. If that makes sense.

    Loving the advice - it's giving me a great boost of motivation to nail this.

    Thanks for taking the time!
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve The Copywriter
    If you can't convince the client - do an Ad type Flyer and a "Invitational" response card.

    The "Invitation" is just like an invitation - no need to search high and low.

    Just write an empathetic invitation inviting the prospect to find out more.


    Steve


    P.S. Again, if possible I would make the Flyer "Invitational" (so it doesn't look like an Ad, and gets a higher readership) - explaining all the benefits of the service and of course "inviting" the prospect to find out more about it. RSVP.
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  • Profile picture of the author RecoveringTeacher
    I'm a former teacher, and just one person, but here's my experience/input.

    My principal looked very quickly at things like yours, and handed them off to teachers. So you want to appeal to them as well. If he handed me a letter or flyer, and I liked it, I was authorized to go straight to our budget person who went from there. Again, I'm only one person but all principals are very busy and I bet my principal was not the only person who worked this way.

    I don't know if you're in Melbourne FL or Australia, but if you are in the US what you need to ask yourself is this: How will my client's product/service improve student performance on standardized tests? The US is in the throes of testing mania. And from what I know of metro-area NY, as a former city teacher, and a parent with friends throughout the region, schools have very little interest in anything that's not going to improve test scores. Sad but true, and important for anyone to keep in mind if they're trying to sell anything to schools.
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